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Therapies Utilized in Adolescent Residential Treatment for Substance Use

Is Your Teen Struggling with Substance Use? We Can Help.

The comprehensive therapies at Ember Recovery address adolescent substance use and mental health conditions. Our therapies are tailored to the goals and circumstances of teens to help with their unique struggles, including peer pressure, academic stress, and social challenges, that may contribute to unhealthy thoughts or behaviors.

We offer a variety of drug and alcohol recovery programs and mental health therapies to address the needs of teens in a comfortable adolescent residential treatment setting. Focused and intensive, our specialized therapies help teens in need of guidance in understanding the consequences of addiction and finding a path to healing.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that can be effective for problems like anxiety disorders, substance use, depression, eating disorders, and other mental health conditions.

CBT relies on the premise that psychological problems are based on unhelpful ways of thinking and learned behavior patterns, both of which can be addressed with coping skills and conscious efforts to change thought patterns. This may include using role-playing scenarios, relaxation techniques, and confronting fear. There’s an emphasis on helping teens become their own “therapists” to change their thinking and behavior.

STEPPS Therapy

Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) is a program that can be helpful when combined with other treatments for emotionally intense individuals, such as medication therapy and individual therapy. STEPPS intends to educate teens about emotional regulation and help them acquire skills to cope with their disorder.

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STEPPS is often conducted in a group environment to help with coping skills to address extreme emotions. Family members or friends may be included as a support system, allowing them to become a resource to support the teen in learning new skills. STEPPS participants learn to identify and challenge automatic responses to events and prioritize self-care, problem-solving, and communication skills.

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Trauma Therapy

Trauma-focused therapy addresses the needs of teens suffering from early trauma, specifically with post-traumatic stress and mood disorders that result from early sexual or physical abuse, violence, or grief. 

This short-term intervention in a residential program uses cognitive behavioral techniques to modify unhelpful thinking and behaviors to recognize a healthier path forward. Family members may be asked to address their role and struggles in dealing with a teen suffering from trauma.

Individual Therapy During Adolescent Residential Treatment

Individual therapy is the cornerstone of a residential rehab program and allows teens to discuss their challenges and experiences in a confidential and nonjudgmental environment. Teens are at a vulnerable stage of emotional and psychological development in which they’re strongly influenced by peer pressure and learning their identity. Individual therapy addresses this directly by providing a neutral space to speak openly and share information they may not share with friends or parents.

As part of a comprehensive treatment program, individual therapy will include 45-minute to one-hour sessions in a private setting to build a strong sense of self. It may consist of elements of other therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

Multidimensional Family Therapy

Multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) is a family-centered treatment and substance use prevention program for teens with substance use disorders and unhelpful behaviors. Using a multifaceted approach, MDFT focuses on improving several life domains that may contribute to behavioral issues, including youth, parents, family, and community.

Sessions are held with the teen individually, with the parents, and the teen and parents combined in a family session. During these sessions, therapy is focused on the four core life domains to improve communication, decrease conflict, and deepen emotional attachments.

Group Therapy

Group therapy brings teens with similar substance use struggles together in a shared space. Led by a trained mental health professional, group therapy leverages the social nature of teens to help them refine social skills and abilities, endorse personal responsibility, educate them about mental health, and learn coping strategies in a safe and encouraging environment. Group therapy also offers resources for the teen and family members.

Residential treatment for boys

In the right setting, teens have an opportunity to share and process their experiences, emotions, and challenges and learn from others. Feelings of social isolation are decreased, and teens can learn to reintegrate and engage with others – two essential skills when recovering from substance use or mental health conditions.

The Ember Recovery Difference

Ember Recovery believes in treating the whole self. Our adolescent residential treatment programs are integrative and take the individual teen into account to address addiction, trauma, grief, loss, or other challenges to health and well-being, all in an environment focused on recovery.

Using gender-specific treatment designed specifically for teens, our residential program focuses on the unique stresses in adolescence instead of adulthood. These may include peer pressure, a desire to fit in, impulse control, rebellion, curiosity, and the desire to feel “grown up.”

As a parent, we understand that sending your teen to a rehab facility can be stressful. We have a completely open and transparent process to keep you informed and give you peace of mind.

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